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RNF212 marks the spot

Nature Genetics volume 45, pages 228–229 (2013)Cite this article

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A new study in mice shows that, during meiosis, the decision to mature a double-strand break into a crossover is controlled by a dosage-sensitive regulator, RNF212. This finding provides insight into the crossover maturation process and may help explain how sequence polymorphisms in RNF212 alter the frequency of crossing over in humans.

Meiotic recombination is essential for the accurate segregation of chromosomes1. In most organisms, this process is initiated by the formation of preprogrammed double-strand breaks (DSBs) created by the Spo11 topoisomerase2. Controlling the timing, location and resolution of DSBs is key to achieving successful meiosis. This is especially true because only the formation of crossover events will guarantee proper chromosome segregation. Failure to create the right number of crossovers in the right positions can lead to aneuploidy, which in humans can result in miscarriage or disorders of chromosome number such as Down, Turner or Klinefelter syndrome.

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Figure 1: Model of how recombination sites are marked to become crossovers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cathleen M. Lake and R. Scott Hawley are at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.,

    Cathleen M Lake & R Scott Hawley

  2. R. Scott Hawley is also affiliated with the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Kansas University Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA.,

    R Scott Hawley

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  1. Cathleen M Lake
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  2. R Scott Hawley
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Correspondence to R Scott Hawley.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Lake, C., Hawley, R. RNF212 marks the spot. Nat Genet 45, 228–229 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.2559

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